Senate stares down Pentagon on Hill

The brass appeared at a Senate hearing, where they took heat from Republicans and Democrats so fed up with the Pentagon’s handling of sexual assault they’re pushing to take the cases outside of the hands of commanders — a step the military has resisted fiercely.

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Whether the Senate can stare down the Pentagon and force such a significant change will be a test of whether a long simmering issue has reached a boiling point.

“You have lost the trust of those men and women who rely on you… they are afraid to report, they fear their careers will be over… that is our biggest challenge right there. Right there,” Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-N.Y.) told a decorated panel of military officials.

Army Chief of Staff Gen. Raymond Odierno called preventing sexual assault the service’s “number one priority,” but military officials united in opposition to Gillibrand’s proposal, which would take away commanders’ authority to determine whether sexual assault cases go to trial.

“If you’ve heard each of us suggest that the role of a commander is central in solving this problem, it’s because we believe that the role of the commander is essential to any change we will be able to make on this issue,” Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey told the committee, defending the current processes.

The committee is expected to take up the issue when it begins working on a defense authorization bill next week. Already, more than 40 senators have sponsored or co-sponsored seven bills aimed at reducing military sexual violence.

The problem of sexual assault has been on Congress’ radar for years, but it has received renewed attention in recent weeks when a new survey showed 26,000 troops experienced an unwanted sexual incident last year and separate allegations of sexual assault surfaced against military officials responsible for preventing such crimes.

Military officials also argued the chain of command is essential to maintaining “good order and discipline” in the ranks.

Sen. Jeanne Shaheen pushed back by saying sexual assault was undermining unit cohesion in a more corrosive manner, as more women join military ranks.

In an impassioned defense of her proposed measure, Gillibrand recited statistics showing that few sexual assault victims take their cases up the chain of command.

“Why can’t you maintain good order and discipline without [that authority]? You have those… today and you do not have good order and discipline,” Gillibrand said.

Dempsey responded: “I am aligned very closely with my peers here on the idea that we should try to fix this through the commander and not around them.”

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), himself a former Naval aviator, told the panel that he was so disturbed by rampant sexual assault in the military that he cannot give his “unconditional support” to women thinking of joining the armed services.